Summary

K6 telephone kiosk, designed 1935, located on the north side of Main Street.

Description

The K6 is a standardised design made of cast iron, painted red overall with long horizontal glazing in the door and sides and with the crowns situated on the top panels being applied not perforated. There are rectangular white display signs, reading TELEPHONE beneath the shallow-curved roof. It has modernised internal equipment. The telephone kiosk’s display signs above the doors are faded and discoloured, and the red paint is flaking in many places. It retains glass windows.

The telephone kiosk stands in a prominent location on a grass island, on the north side of Main Street, close to the former village post office (not listed). It is approximately 25m south-west of the scheduled remains of a monastic grange east of Manor Farm, and 25m north-west of the Old Forge (listed at grade II).

INTERIOR: Pursuant to s.1 (5A) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 it is declared that the modern telecommunications equipment within the K6 is not of special architectural or historic interest.

History

The K6 telephone kiosk is a milestone of C20 industrial design. The K6 was designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott in 1935 for the General Post Office, on the occasion of King George V's Silver Jubilee. The K6 was a development from his earlier highly successful K2 telephone kiosk design of 1924, of Neo-classical inspiration. The K6 was more streamlined aesthetically, more compact and more cost-effective to mass produce. Sir Giles Gilbert Scott (1880-1960) was one of the most important of modern British architects; his many celebrated commissions include the Anglican cathedral of Liverpool and Battersea power station. The K2 and K6 telephone kiosks can be said to represent a very thoughtful adaptation of architectural tradition to contemporary technological requirements. Well over 70,000 K6s were eventually produced. In the 1960s many were replaced with a new kiosk type. But many still remain, and continue to be an iconic feature on Britain's streetscapes.

The 1975 Ordnance Survey map shows a public telephone box (TCB or Telephone Call Box) at the triangular grass island on the north side of Main Street in Cold Ashby, close to the former village post office (not listed).

Reasons for Listing

The K6 telephone kiosk in Cold Ashby is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

* Design/Aesthetic interest: The K6 is an iconic C20 industrial design by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott;

* Group value: the telephone kiosk holds a strong group value with the Old Forge and its attached house, listed at Grade II.

* Setting: the telephone kiosk stands within the historic village of Cold Ashby, and within the setting of the scheduled remains of the monastic grange east of Manor Farm.

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q66478372

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  London 4: North: North v. 4 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Pioneers of Modern Design: From William Morris to Walter Gropius (Penguin Art & Architecture)
• 
  Norfolk 1: Norwich and North-East: Norwich and North-east v. 1 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  For the Record
• 
  Dorset (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Gloucestershire 1: The Cotswolds: Cotswolds Pt. 1 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)